Combine
The Combine, abbreviated as CMB, and referred to in propaganda as "Our Benefactors", is an immense and powerful inter-dimensional organization. Comprised of both allied and enslaved species, the Combine's collective goal is to dominate and absorb the Multiverse into its inter-dimensional empire; the Universal Union. History: The Combine Empire sprawls across multiple parallel universes, and includes an unknown number of sentient species. Details of the Combine's leadership and administrative structure remain unknown. Aliens called the Advisors are responsible for facilitating and overseeing all communication and interaction with the Human race. The Combine manipulates species through a variety of means, including bioengineering and artificial implantation. The products of the Combine's re-engineering process are known as "synths", bio-mechanical organisms that serve a variety of functions within the empire. The Combine also their technology to create armies of super-soldiers, uniquely adapted to the particular environments of the conquered worlds. This process results in a highly mobile and adaptive military force which is able to respond to any threat and crush any opposition. Combine military technology The Combine use the technological growth of other civilizations against them. Weapons, vehicles and other technology are assimilated into the Combine armory; the Overwatch utilizes Earth's small arms, armored personnel carriers, trains, and helicopters, often re-designing them for greater efficiency. Most of Combine's military units on Earth are either Human or originated from Humans, like Overwatch Soldiers. Other vehicles and machines used by the Combine are clearly of non-human origin; examples of this are the Strider and the Gunship, both of which are derived from living creatures that are possibly Transbeings of other enslaved civilizations. Combine Synth Synths are creatures that, over a course of imposed evolution and alteration by the Combine, have come to fit a particular niche in the Combine military. Once self-replicating organic creatures that originated from different worlds, they were enslaved and assimilated into the Combine to become the backbone of their military. Combine Combat Technology The Combine employs numerous devices and weapons that are used in the day-to-day policing and surveillance of the general populace. Some of these are merely human inventions that have been re-designed by the Combine to better suit their purposes, while others are either original, or re-designed technology of other civilizations. Combine Architecture Most examples of Combine structures are very large and imposing, with very blocky, monolithic shapes with sharp angles made of a dull, blue-gray metal. Various tubes, wires, and pipes can be seen running throughout gaps in the walls and down along corridors and tunnels. Their buildings are purely functional with no thought given for aesthetics or comfort, with no embellishments or decorations shown save the occasional sign or Combine logo, and bright but sparsely-placed artificial lights create harsh, dark shadows throughout the Combines' complexes. Steep, deep drops and platforms lacking guardrails are common too; most likely due to the Advisors' ability to fly and thus having no need for bridges, although bridges can be seen in places where Combine soldiers move and operate; another example of the Combine's assimilation of human technologies.